Low Back Pain
Course #94102 - $90 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Back pain in general, and low back pain (LBP) in particular, is highly prevalent, associated with substantial economic expenditures (mainly health care) and losses (e.g., absenteeism, lost productivity). It can incur serious and prolonged patient suffering, diminished quality of life, and disability. LBP is the chronic pain syndrome responsible for the greatest clinical, social, economic, and public health burden. By completing this course, physicians, nurses, and other primary care providers will achieve a greater understanding of the pathophysiology and differential diagnosis of back pain conditions, the distinction between acute and chronic back pain and its management implications, and knowledge of appropriate treatment options that are guided by advances in pain neuroscience. Also gained from this course is the understanding of advances in the conceptualization and treatment of chronic LBP that challenge long-held assumptions and paradigms.
This course is designed for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients with back pain.
The purpose of this course is to provide healthcare professionals with a greater understanding of the pathophysiology and differential diagnosis of low back pain conditions so they may effectively treat or manage low back pain, resulting in improved patient health, quality of life, and satisfaction.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Outline the epidemiology of back pain, including economic and societal costs.
- Identify modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors for back pain.
- Review prognostic factors for unsatisfactory treatment response or progression to chronic low back pain.
- Describe the clinical course of low back pain.
- Describe the pathophysiology of the different types of back pain.
- Outline the assessment and diagnosis of low back pain, including "red flags" evident on the initial assessment.
- Assess approaches to enhancing the assessment of low back pain.
- Compare available approaches for the management of acute and chronic low back pain.
- Describe non-drug therapies that may be helpful for low back pain.
- Discuss the use of complementary and alternative modalities for the treatment of low back pain.
- Review the available oral pharmacotherapies for the treatment of low back pain.
- Compare and contrast topical medications for the management of low back pain.
- Evaluate the efficacy of spinal surgery to manage low back pain.
- Assess the indications and potential benefits of epidural injections for the management of low back pain.
- Identify barriers to the effective care of chronic back pain.
Mark Rose, BS, MA, LP, is a licensed psychologist in the State of Minnesota with a private consulting practice and a medical research analyst with a biomedical communications firm. Earlier healthcare technology assessment work led to medical device and pharmaceutical sector experience in new product development involving cancer ablative devices and pain therapeutics. Along with substantial experience in addiction research, Mr. Rose has contributed to the authorship of numerous papers on CNS, oncology, and other medical disorders. He is the lead author of papers published in peer-reviewed addiction, psychiatry, and pain medicine journals and has written books on prescription opioids and alcoholism published by the Hazelden Foundation. He also serves as an Expert Advisor and Expert Witness to law firms that represent disability claimants or criminal defendants on cases related to chronic pain, psychiatric/substance use disorders, and acute pharmacologic/toxicologic effects. Mr. Rose is on the Board of Directors of the Minneapolis-based International Institute of Anti-Aging Medicine and is a member of several professional organizations.
Contributing faculty, Mark Rose, BS, MA, LP, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
John M. Leonard, MD
Jane C. Norman, RN, MSN, CNE, PhD
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.